There is one dish in Ann Arbor that I crave on an almost daily basis. It's not chocolate. It's not a comforting calorie bomb burger. Surprisingly enough, it is served at a vegan restaurant. I am 100 percent, no joke addicted to the vegan pad Thai at The Lunch Room in Kerrytown.

I had my first taste of this fresh, flavorful dish in the summer of 2011, when friends and business collaborators Phillis Engelbert and Joel Panozzo opened up a food cart at Mark's Carts in 2011. I wasn't convinced at the time that of all the carts in the courtyard, the vegan cart would haunt my dream. But one bowl of The Lunch Room's pad Thai, just bursting with crunchy fresh vegetables, peanuts and cilantro and I was hooked.

"We were having trouble with the sauce," explained Engelbert. "We had the sauce in the hot holding area on the line, and the tamarind in the sauce was separating and changing the flavor, making it bitter. So we took it off the menu for a while until we figured it out."

The problem was solved by keeping the sauce cold and cooking it to order along with the broad bean thread for each order.

"When we took it off the menu, we pretty much had an uprising on our hands," laughed Engelbert. "Like, there was no way we could keep it off the menu. Seriously. It’s probably our only menu item where there was a real uprising."

A large bowl of vegan pad Thai - more than I can eat in one sitting - costs $8. Broad bean thread noodles are tossed in a flavorful peanut sauce and marinated tofu cubes. The dish is topped with fresh bell pepper, cucumber, cilantro and a wedge of lime.

The pad Thai at the Lunch Room is lacking the egg found in most traditional pad Thai recipes, but I don't miss it a bit, and apparently neither do the other 40 people who order it every day.

"It's Asian comfort food," said Engelbert. "It’s really fresh and healthy. There isn’t anything bad in it. It’s all good for you."

I'm sold.

Ann Arbor's Best Bites is a regular column showcasing some of my favorite dishes served at Ann Arbor area restaurants. Have a dish you'd like to nominate to be featured in a future column? Post your ideas in the comments below, or describe the dish in an email to JessicaWebster@MLive.com.